Dr. Carolina Gustafson is an Assistant Professor in the University of Iowa College of Nursing and an acute care nurse practitioner. Her research focuses on the experiences of young adults living with severe chronic illness, particularly around the developmental transition from child to adult. She aims in her work to develop techniques to optimize use of existing data from sources such as electronic health records (EHR) to describe/analyze the experiences of young adults living with severe chronic illness without causing additional stress/burden to patients/families. Long-term she aims to develop interventions to better identify and support patients who may struggle with the transition to adulthood while managing severe chronic illness and their families. 

Dr. Gustafson completed her PhD in Nursing and a Doctoral Certificate in Bioethics at Emory University where she was a Robert Wood Johnson Future of Nursing Scholar. Dr. Gustafson also completed a T32-funded post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh focused on using technology to address chronic and critical illness. Her previous work has focused on the palliative and end-of-life care experiences of young adults with a variety of severe chronic conditions, including solid organ transplant recipients, and patients with congenital heart disease, cystic fibrosis, inflammatory bowel disease, and sickle cell disease. She is also passionate about teaching pediatrics and palliative care courses and supporting students in gaining confidence by acknowledging and overcoming discomfort in clinical settings that can feel overwhelming and uncertain.

Curriculum Vitae